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HARRISBURG -- The state Department of Environmental Protection Thursday said it has fined gas driller Chesapeake Appalachia a total of $565,000 for major violations at three Marcellus Shale sites that occurred since 2010, including a well blowout in Bradford County last April that took five days to secure.

The Washington Post

With deep concerns over fracking, a Va. County says no to more gas drilling

In BERGTON, Va. — Carrizo Oil and Gas had every reason to believe this rustic town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains was an ideal place to build Virginia’s first well to explore for natural gas in the state’s Marcellus Shale.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hasn’t started issuing oil and gas drilling permits for the Marcellus Shale area. Still, the Allegany County Board of Health wants to take a “pre-emptive” measure to help public and private well owners who may be worried about their water quality if drilling goes forward, said county Environmental Health Director Thomas Hull.

Uncertainty prompts me to write that as a doctor I do not know what to tell Pennsylvania patients when they ask me if hydraulic fracturing — fracking — in their neighborhood or region might affect their health. I’ve seen anecdotal stories in the media.

CNN PRODUCER NOTE: iReporter ScottCannon, a board member of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, Inc., shot this video in Dimock, Pennsylvania, a town at the heart of an EPA water drilling investigation. The video includes an interview with Susan Roos, a resident of Dimock who claims her water supply has been contaminated by gas extraction practices. This video package also includes an interview with EPA spokesperson Trish Taylor, who is part of a team investigating claims in the area.

Two Allegheny County councilmen will introduce legislation on Tuesday that would create a registry of permits issued for Marcellus shale gas well sites and set restrictions on where drilling operations can be situated on county-owned property.

Care2

How New York State Residents Can Protect Themselves From Fracking Pollution

New York sits on the northern edge of major shale deposits, known as the Marcellus Shale. Most of the Marcellus Shale is in New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. The way to drill for the shale is with hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, which pollutes drinking water supplies. Fracking also produces more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than conventional drilling methods.

New York’s environment commissioner told lawmakers Tuesday that the proposed state budget doesn’t include money for regulating hydraulic fracturing because it’s uncertain when — or if — the natural gas drilling technology will be allowed in the state.